Third year
Edit
Added by - "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose!"
- —Hermione Granger's concern for Harry after Sirius Black's escape fromAzkaban[src]
In the summer of 1993, Sirius Black—who had been wrongly imprisoned twelve years earlier for allegedly betraying James and Lily Potter to Voldemort and killing twelve Muggles—escaped from Azkaban. This created a tense climate in the wizarding world, and many believed that killing Harry was the object of Black's escape. As such, he was treated leniently when, late in the summer, he inadvertently engorged his "Aunt" Marge. That evening he ran away from the Dursleys, and after an enlightening journey aboard the Knight Bus, he arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, whereMinister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was awaiting him. After spending two happy weeks at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry met up with his friends Ron and Hermione along with the entire Weasley family, who had just returned from a holiday in Egypt. That night, Harry overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing and learned of the Ministry's fears that Harry was the target of Sirius Black.
Prior to their departure aboard the Hogwarts Express, Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside and in no uncertain terms told Harry not to go looking for Black. Finding only one open compartment, Harry and his friends shared their ride with a new professor, Remus Lupin. The train suddenly stopped well before it should have and was searched byDementors looking for Black. Harry reacted poorly to the appearance of the dementors, passing out, and beginning a pattern that would last most of the year. The following day, Harry and his classmates began their new classes. Among the first was Care of Magical Creatures in which, Hagrid, the new professor, taught them about hippogriffs. Unfortunately, Draco Malfoy had not been listening when Hagrid lectured and was injured by the hippogriff,Buckbeak. In Harry's other new class, Divination, the professor, Sybill Trelawney made a habit of predicting Harry's demise. On the other hand, Professor Lupin soon proved to be an excellent teacher in Defence Against the Dark Arts, where he taught the students how to combat various dark creatures.
At Halloween, the third year students went on their first visit to Hogsmeade village. Harry was not allowed to go, as he had not had his permission form signed. In light of Harry's difficulties, Ron and Hermione, who had been fighting over Hermione's new cat, Crookshanks, put aside their differences. While his friends were enjoying themselves in Hogsmeade, Harry visited with Professor Lupin. A few weeks later, Harry played in the first Quidditch match of the year versus Hufflepuff. In the pouring rain and storms, the teams played until the Dementors invaded the field. In their presence, Harry tumbled off his broom fifty feet to the ground. His Nimbus 2000 was destroyed in the process. Knowing that Gryffindor would not win the Quidditch Cup, if he continued to collapse in the presence of the dementors, Harry asked Lupin to help teach him how to combat them.
Added by Just before Christmas, the school had another Hogsmeade visit. This time Harry sneaked out of the castle using the Marauder's Map, which the Weasley twins presented to him in his time of need. During his illicit visit to Hogsmeade, Harry overheard a conversation between Minister for MagicCornelius Fudge and several of the Hogwarts teachers. Fudge told them that Black had betrayed the Potters and that he was still Harry's godfather. This revelation caused Harry great distress. To relieve Harry of some of his troubles the trio went to visit Hagrid, where they learned that Buckbeak was to be put on trial, and they promised to help his defence. Soon after, on Christmas day, Harry received a Firebolt from an anonymous benefactor. Believing it to be from Sirius Black, Hermione reported it to Professor McGonagall, causing Harry and Ron to stop talking to her.
Following the break, Lupin began his lessons with Harry. While Harry made progress, he regretted his inability to create a true Patronus many lessons in. Soon after, Harry was given his Firebolt back by Professor McGonagall, and Harry decided it was high time to patch things up with Hermione. However, that same evening, Ron's rat, Scabbers, disappeared, and Crookshanks was blamed. The boys did not reconcile with her until after the next Hogsmeade visit, when Harry was almost caught. After receiving a stern talking to for sneaking out of the school, Harry and Ron emerged from Professor Lupin's office to find Hermione standing there looking distraught. She told them that Lucius Malfoy had used his influence and Buckbeak had been convicted and sentenced to execution.
The Quidditch final was soon upon them, and Harry played in the dirtiest game of his career. He managed to catch the Golden Snitch after Gyrffindor was sufficiently ahead, and Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup. They could not celebrate for long as finals were right around the corner. Harry did well enough in the tests, and following his last final in Divination, Professor Trelawney went into a trance and predicted that the servant would return to Lord Voldemort and help him return to power. The same day, Buckbeak's appeal had taken place in the castle, where the hippogriff was, again, sentenced to death. Against the advice of Hagrid, the trio went down to his cabin to comfort him. While there, Scabbers resurfaced. When he discovered that the Ministry officials were on their way, Hagrid rushed Harry, Ron, and Hermione out the back. While they made their way back to the castle, the sound of a swishing blade rent the air, and Buckbeak was apparently executed.
Immediately afterward, Scabbers bit Ron and attempted to escape, causing Ron to chase the rat into the shadow of the Whomping Willow. Once there, he was attacked by a large black dog who dragged Ron and Scabbers into a tunnel under the Willow. Harry and Hermione followed them into the tunnel, which led them to the Shrieking Shack. There, they followed the sound of Ron and discovered him in an upstairs bedroom, where they were ambushed by Sirius Black, who was a Animagus that turned into a dog. They were saved by Professor Lupin, but then the situation turned on its head when he embraced Black like a brother, and they began talking about the long dead Peter Pettigrew. When asked to explain, they revealed that Lupin, Black, and Pettigrew went to Hogwarts with Harry's father, James, that they had all become amimagi to help Lupin with his Lycanthropy, and that in fact Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters. This was proven when Black and Lupin forced Scabbers to become Pettigrew. After questioning he confessed, but Harry prevented Black and Lupin from killing him.
Added by Determined to turn Pettigrew over, the whole group set off for the castle. Along the way, the moon came out from behind the clouds, and Lupin transformed into a werewolf, since he had not drunk hisWolfsbane Potion. Seeing the danger, Black used his Animagus powers to protect Harry and his friends, but was badly injured. When Harry and Hermione went to look for him, hundreds ofDementors fell upon them, trying to perform the Dementor's Kissboth on Sirius and him. After trying to hold them off, Harry passed out, but they were saved by a mysterious figure who cast a powerful Patronus from across the lake. Harry awoke to find himself in the infirmary and that Sirius was about to be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss. He and Hermione pleaded withDumbledore who instructed them that nothing could be done without more time. With this clue, Hermione grabbed Harry and used her Time-Turner to send them back in time. Once there, they hid out until the time was right to rescue Buckbeak, who they saved just prior to his execution. Afterward, they waited for the appropriate moment to save Sirius. While they sat in the woods, Harry tried to tell Hermione that he thought that his father might have saved them. When she reminded him that his father was dead, Harry dropped the subject. They ran for safety to Hagrid's hut when the werewolf Lupin was on the loose, and Harry, desperate to see who saved him, left to observe the situation. The dementors attacked his former self as he watched, until in a flash of clarity, Harry realised that he cast the Patronus Charm that saved his life and stepping forward, Harry drove the dementors back with a powerful stag Patronus. Once reunited with Hermione the pair rode Buckbeak to Sirius's window and rescued him.
Harry return to the Dursleys feeling as if he had accomplished nothing, but his trip and future at Hogwarts was brightened when he received a letter from Sirius. Inside there was permission for him to go to Hogsmeade, and Harry was delighted to have a godfather.
Fourth yearEdit
- "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you."
- —Dumbledore to Harry at the end of his fourth year[src]
In 1994, Harry, the Weasley family (except Mrs. Weasley), and Hermione attended the Quidditch World Cup. At Stoatshead Hill,Cedric Diggory and his father, Amos, joined them. Once at the campgrounds, they met Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch Sr. and hishouse-elf Winky, and many other Hogwarts students and their families, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Oliver Wood, and Draco Malfoy. They were able to see the match between the Irish and Bulgarian national teams up close, because Harry, the Weasleys, and Hermione had seats in the top box, thanks to a favour Mr. Weasley had done for Ludo Bagman.
The night after the match, while the Irish team's supporters were still celebrating, a group of black-cloaked, hooded figures held terrifying celebrations of their own by suspending the Muggle campsite manager and his family in air like twisted marionettes. On Mr. Weasley's orders, Harry fled into the woods near the campsite, along with Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny. The group was separated in the woods, and in the chaos, Harry believed he had lost his wand. The trio ran into Draco Malfoy, and he all but told them that his father was among the cloaked wizards. Later, Harry learned that Barty Crouch Jr. had stolen his wand from his pocket. While in a clearing in the woods, Harry, Ron, and Hermione heard someone shout the incantation Morsmordre, casting the Dark Mark - a green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth like a tongue - into the sky. Although Harry did not immediately recognise its significance, he soon learned that the Dark Mark had evil implications. Then, Barty Crouch Sr., Amos Diggory, and other Ministry of Magic employees apparated into the clearing and began to question Harry, Ron, and Hermione about the Dark Mark. After Harry mentioned he had heard another voice conjure the Dark Mark, the Ministry employees searched the area and found the house-elf Winky unconscious in the bushes. Since Harry's wand was found in Winky's hand, Mr. Crouch fired her for shaming his family and disobeying his orders.
Added by At the Hogwarts start of term feast, Professor Dumbledore announced thatHogwarts would host the Triwizard Tournament, a recently-revived inter-school competition in which the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute would also participate. New rules stated that only students seventeen and older could compete. Also, during the start of term feast, Dumbledore introduced Alastor Moody, an ex-Auror, as the newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. This news was greeted with a mixture of responses, as Moody was known to be a great Auror, a little crazy, and to have a magical eye, earning him the nickname "Mad-Eye Moody." Around Halloween the students from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute arrived at the school, andViktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory were all chosen to represent their respective schools in this tournament. However, Harry was mysteriously chosen as a fourth competitor, even though he was underage and never entered his name into the Goblet of Fire during the selection process. Many people did not believe Harry's story, including Ron believing this to be nothing but another attempt to gain fame. This caused extreme tension between the two friends. Hermione, on the other hand, "accepted his story without question," and assisted Harry in preparing for the Tournament by teaching him useful spells, such as the Summoning Charm, which Harry used in the first task of the Tournament. The champions faced three dangerous challenges on their way to the Triwizard Cup. A few days after his name came out of the Goblet, Harry attended the Wand Weighing ceremony. There he was cornered by the notorious Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter who asked him many leading questions and wrote an inflammatory article about him.
Added by In the first task, each champion needed to get past a dragon to collect a golden egg. Harry received help from Hagrid who showed the dragons to Harry. Realising that every champion but Cedric had found out about the dragons, Harry told Cedric about the first task, trying to level the playing field. The newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor Moody, witnessed Harry telling Cedric, but did not report him. Instead he advised Harry to play to his strengths, hinting that he should use his flying ability to get the golden egg. Four different dragons were chosen for each of the champions to face. Fleur ended up with the Common Welsh Green,Cedric with the Swedish Short-Snout, Viktor Krum with the Chinese Fireball, and Harry faced the Hungarian Horntail. Harry used a Summoning Charm to bring him his Firebolt and dodged the Hungarian Horntail to get the golden egg. Harry and Viktor Krum tied for first at the end of the task. After seeing how dangerous the task was, Ron, as well as the other students, made amends with Harry, with Ron telling him "I reckon someone is trying to do you in."
Between the first and second tasks, the Yule Ball, a Triwizard Tournament tradition took place at Christmas. Ron, dismayed to discover that Viktor Krum had asked Hermione, called her out for "consorting with the enemy" though he and Hermioneacted as if they had not fought the following day. Harry asked his long-time crush Cho Chang to attend the Yule Ball with him but was disappointed to learn that she had already accepted the invitation of Cedric Diggory. Harry and Ron ended up attending with Parvati and Padma Patil, respectively. They both ended up neglecting their dates, as Harry watched Cho withCedric, and Ron was overcome with jealousy for Viktor Krum, who danced with Hermione. After the Yule Ball, Rita Skeeter struck again. She had overheard Hagrid tellingMadame Maxime about his family. She then wrote an article exposing Hagrid as a Half-giant, and he was so ashamed that he stopped teaching. Only after Harry, Ron, and Hermione proved that they still liked him, did he return to work.
To prepare for the second task, Harry had to open the egg he won from the dragon, but every time he did, it screeched. His rescue from that particular problem came when Cedric paid him back with the information that he would figure it out if he "takes a bath" with the egg. Harry followed this advice; while in the bathroom, he had an uncomfortable exchange with Moaning Myrtle, and on the way back to the Common Room, he ran into ProfessorsSnape and Moody. The latter informed Harry of Barty Crouch Sr's obsession with catching Dark Wizards. Harry did learn that the second task was going into the Black Lake to rescue "the thing they would miss most" from theMerpeople. Harry's new problem was that he had no idea of how to survive underwater for an hour. He got his answer in the form of gillyweed from Dobby, who had come to work at Hogwarts. For this task, Harry had to save his best friend Ron. When Harry reached Ron, he was shocked to find Hermione, Cho, and Gabrielle Delacour, Fleur's sister, there as well. After Cedric and Viktor rescued Cho and Hermione, respectively, Harry hung around, and, concerned for Gabrielle ("An hour long you'll have to look..."), he saved her as well as Ron, landing him outside the hour allotted, but earning him points for "moral fiber." After the second task was finished, Harry and Cedric were tied for first.
A month before the final task, the Champions were shown the beginnings of the challenge. They were told the third and final task was going into a maze filled with obstacles to find the Triwizard Cup. On the way back to the castleKrum took Harry aside to ask him something. Thinking that this was something important, Harry went with him. Krum then asked Harry about his relationship with Hermione, in whom Krum was deeply interested. Harry told him that there was nothing between him and Hermione and that she was just a friend. He also told Krum not to believe anything Rita Skeeter, who had recently written in Witch Weekly that there was a Harry-Hermione-Krum love triangle, wrote about him. That moment, Barty Crouch Sr. appeared in the forest disoriented and asking for Dumbledore. He disappeared again, when Harry went to fetch Dumbledore.
To prepare for the final task, Harry, Ron, and Hermione used vacant classrooms to practise spells and jinxes. InDivination class between two of these study periods, Harry dozed off dreaming about Voldemort and left the classroom in a disturbing fashion. Rita Skeeter had witnessed this event, and she wrote on the day of the final task, that Harry was disturbed and dangerous. This did nothing to boost Harry's morale, but when he spent the day with Bill and Molly Weasley, they cheered him up. During this final event, Hogwarts champions Cedric Diggoryand Harry both showed supreme sportsmanship and cooperation despite the tension brought on by the maze and agreed to touch the Triwizard Cup simultaneously, planning to tie for first place. They were unaware it was actually a Portkey and were transported to the graveyard in Little Hangleton, the Riddle family's final resting place, whereLord Voldemort was waiting. On Voldemort's order, his servant Peter Pettigrew (aka Wormtail) murdered Cedric with the Killing Curse.
Added by Harry was bound to Tom Riddle Sr.'s tombstone and forced to witness a ritual in which Pettigrew used some of Harry's blood to restore Voldemort's body. At which time, the Death Eaters were summoned to the cemetery. After Voldemort regained a full-size human form and explain his downfall and disappearance to his followers, he engaged Harry in a duel. Voldemort then tortured Harry with Cruciatus Curse and then tried to kill him with the Killing Curse. The nature of their wands' mystical connection caused their magical streams to interlock, which created an effect called Priori Incantatem. After a battle of wills with Voldemort, Harry was momentarily shielded by the echoes of Lord Voldemort's previous victims including Harry's parents and Cedric who asked Harry to return his body to his parents, which allowed him time to grab Cedric's body and the Portkey and escape back to Hogwarts.
It was uncovered that Barty Crouch Jr, who had willingly taken the Dark Mark as a young man, was throughout the school year disguised as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Alastor Moody. In a terrible turn of fate, Crouch's soul was destroyed by the Dementor's Kiss from the Dementor that accompanied Cornelius Fudge. As a result, he could not give testimony, and the Ministry of Magic began to dispute Harry and Dumbledore's insistence that Voldemort had returned insisting that Dumbledore was trying to stir up trouble and that Harry was insane.
Fifth yearEdit
- Molly Weasley: "All right, that's enough! He's just a boy! You might as well induct him into the Order!"
- Harry Potter: "Good, then I want to join! If Voldemort's building up an army then I want to fight!"
- — Harry in 12 Grimmauld Place[src]
Added by Witnessing Cedric Diggory's murder was very difficult for Harry, and it was not helpful that he was forced back to 4 Privet Drive on school holidays. To make things worse than they were already, in early August, Dolores Umbridge, then Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister for Magic, sent Dementors to attack Harry in the Muggle town of Little Whinging, in an attempt to neutralise him. He was forced to perform a Patronus charm to save Dudley and himself. Subsequently, Harry was formally accused of performing under-age magic in the presence of a Muggle and was expelled, but thanks to Albus Dumbledore's intervention, it was changed to aWizengamot hearing at the Ministry of Magic. In a further attempt to discredit Harry, the Ministry changed the time and location of the hearing at the last minute, but Harry was able to make just minutes late. He was threatened with expulsion from Hogwarts, but was exonerated with help from Dumbledore, who had witnesses and legal loopholes to help him. In retaliation against Dumbledore, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge appointed Umbridge as the new Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher so she could spy on the school. She was later appointed Hogwarts High Inquisitor, empowered to arbitrarily change and impose school rules whenever she chose. More over, every time Harry spoke out of turn, or even mentioned Voldemort, Umbridge threw him into detention, forcing him to write with her quill, that scribed a message "I must not tell lies" onto the back of his hand. However, she presumed the message failed to sink in, as Harry spread the word through The Quibbler about the previous year's events, thus banning him from any more Hogsmeade visits.
He was surprised when Ron and Hermione were chosen to be prefects, not him, as Fred always expected Harry to be one. It was later revealed that Ron was chosen instead of Harry, because Dumbledore thought that Harry had "enough responsibility to be going on with." Harry's jealousy threatened to affect his friendship with Ron, but he felt better when he discovered that his Dad was also not chosen as a prefect at school. This suggests that Harry's desire in becoming Prefect was to emulate his father who was Head Boy in his day with his mother as Head Girlrespectively, not to inflate a sense of his own importance.
Because Fudge stubbornly believed that Dumbledore was training an army to overthrow him, Umbridge had the Defence Against the Dark Arts class reduced to reading textbooks. Urged by Hermione, Harry secretly trained students in practical defensive magic. In an attempt to make light of the ministry's fears, the group called themselves Dumbledore's Army, or the D.A. Feeling highly anxious and frustrated most of the time, Harry found that the D.A. was now his chief source of happiness, and the thing to which he looked forward throughout his schoolday. This happiness was felt by most members, as all of them, particularly Neville Longbottom, gained a lot under Harry's tutelage. Cho Chang became a member, and before the Christmas holidays, she and Harry kissed under the mistletoe in the Room of Requirement. This moment was confusing to Harry, as Cho, clearly still suffering from Cedric Diggory's death, had been crying. Cho also had misplaced jealousy towards Hermione and defended her friend Marietta Edgecombe when the girl betrayed the D.A. to Umbridge, which caused things between her and Harry to just "fall apart."
However, Harry took on some much more pressing worries later that night. Lord Voldemort, wanting a "secret weapon" against Harry Potter, had heard of a prophecy hidden in the Ministry's Department of Mysteriesconcerning both of them. He had been obsessing over the door to the Hall of Prophecy for the past few months, and had been inadvertently allowing Harry to read his thoughts through Legilimency. The link had been growing stronger for quite awhile. As a result, after falling asleep on the night of his kiss with Cho, Harry witnessed Naginiattack Arthur Weasley in a dream, and felt almost as if he was the snake. Realising what could happen if the link grew more powerful, Dumbledore comissioned Snape to train Harry in Occlumency in an effort to prevent further problems. Unfortunately, Harry did not enjoy having his mind peered into and did not focus on using Occlumency, having indeed been extremely curious about the door. During a lesson in Occlumency, Snape stepped out of the room, and Harry's curiosity got he best of him. He looked into the pensieve which contained Snape's memories, and, to his dismay, found images of his father bullying Snape. Snape himself discoverd Harry's spying and refused to give him any more Occlumency lessons.
As the second term progressed, Harry's relationship with Cho became more strained. While the two did like each other, Cho was mistakenly jelous of Hermione due to her closeness with Harry, and Harry still felt awkward about Cho's feelings over Cedric. When Cho's friend, Marietta Edgecombe, betrayed the D.A. to Umbridge, the members were all punished and forced to end their meetings. Harry was furious with Marietta, but Cho insited on defending her friend. This was the final straw; at this point, Cho's and Harry's relationship "fell apart", and the two no longer saw each other romantically.
During the final Quidditch match of the year, in which Harry did not play (Umbridge had banned him for life),Hagrid, who had returned to the school months into the term and very badly beaten, decided to show Harry and Hermione why he was so badly injured. Hagrid had dragged a Giant back with him from his mission over the summer. It transpired that Grawp was Hagrid's brother and that Hagrid had been attempting to civilise the giant, but with few results. He made Harry and Hermione promise that they would look after Grawp should Hagrid be forced to leave the school. Hagrid was attacked and left the school during OWL examinations, and Harry never had to go down to Grawp in the forest.
Eventually, late in the OWL examinations, Harry dozed off and received a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius and ordering him to get the prophecy. Harry was full of mind to go to the Ministry immediately, but Hermione advised him to check Grimmauld Place first to see if Sirius was still there. Harry used the Floo Network in Umbridge's office to peer into Grimmauld Place, where Kreacher stated that Sirius was gone. Unfortunately, Umbridge caught him and his friends in the act. She attempted to extract information via Veritaserum, which Snape claimed to have used up, before resorting to the Cruciatus curse, revealing that it was she who set the Dementors loose on him. Hermione managed to save him by luring Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest, where she was dragged off bycentaurs for insulting them. Harry and Hermione escaped when Grawp stumbled into the centaur camp looking for Hagrid. The trio, along with D.A. members Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood, who had assisted in Harry's attempt to contact Grimmauld Place, used Thestrals to fly to London.
Added by After reaching the Department of Mysteries, Harry led them through various rooms in search of Sirius, without finding him. The group became doubtful until they came across a room filled with crystal balls, later to be known as prophecies. One of the prophecies had Harry's name on it, and he picked it up, much to the displeasure of Hermione. Upon picking up the prophecy Death Eaters appeared, revealing that it was all a ruse to bring him there. Chaos ensued, and all but Harry and Neville were incapacitated in the fighting. Then reinforcements from the Order of the Phoenix, alerted by Snape, arrived to help aid in the battle. In the ensuing fighting, Sirius Black was pushed by a curse from his cousin,Bellatrix Lestrange, through a mysterious stone arch to his death. Harry, enraged, pursued Bellatrix, using the Cruciatus Curse, but he was unable to kill her.
Voldemort appeared, enraged by the failures of his Death Eaters. For the second time, he attempted to fatally curse Harry, who was too transfixed to even defend himself, but Dumbledore's sudden arrival saved him. Voldemort then possessed Harry, hoping that Dumbledore would sacrifice Harry in order to kill Voldemort. However, Voldemort was forced to leave Harry's body when Harry grieved for Sirius, which Voldemort failed to understand. Voldemort then grabbed Bellatrix and Disapparated, but the Minister and Ministry employees saw him first.
Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore explained to Harry the real reason why Voldemort tried to kill him as an infant. A prophecy stated that he was destined to defeat the Dark Lord, for he had powers Voldemort did not: the ability tolove, something that the Department of Mysteries was trying to research in a locked room.
As a result of the battle, the Ministry of Magic realised that Lord Voldemort had returned, and Harry and Dumbledore were vindicated. Serious steps were taken following this change in policy such as the sacking ofDolores Umbridge. However, this was not a sea change as the Ministry still had a mistrust of Dumbledore.
